Saturday, May 31, 2008

More than 31,000 scientists have signed a petition denying that man is responsible for global warming.

The academics, including 9,000 with PhDs, claim that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are actually beneficial for the environment.

The Telegraph dutifully trots out an opposing viewpoint from an unnamed spokesman for the Royal Society, Britain's national science academy:

“The world’s leading climate experts at the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believe that it is greater than 90 per cent likely that human activity is responsible for most of the observed warming in recent decades. That is a pretty strong consensus.

“The science has come a long way since 1998 and it continues to point in one direction - the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avert dangerous climate change.”

Um, yeah. That science has come a long way since 1998. So far, in fact, that the latest science shows that since 1998, the planet's temperature has actually declined. Not what a reasonable scientist would expect given that carbon dioxide levels have greatly increased since then.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

My brother Mark tipped me to this statement on Barack Obama's web site this evening:

On Saturday, the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee will meet in Washington D.C. to determine whether Florida and Michigan delegates should be allowed to participate at the Democratic convention in August. We look forward to the meeting proceeding smoothly—and we're asking that our supporters not demonstrate or disrupt the proceedings in any way.

Monday, May 26, 2008

If you're a frequent international traveler like myself, you've got plenty to worry about with passports, visas, language barriers, and weird food. The last damned thing you want to worry about is a customs agent slipping dope into your luggage.

An unsuspecting passenger who flew through Tokyo's Narita airport left with $10,000 worth of free marijuana thanks to a forgetful customs officer and a sniffer dog with an unreliable nose.

The officer stuffed five ounces of the drug into the side pocket of a randomly selected black suitcase coming off an overseas flight into Narita yesterday so that the dog could get some practice at detecting drugs.

The article says the customs agent was "reprimanded". If the poor shlub whose luggage contained the dope was continuing on to Singapore from Narita, he could very well end up dead...Singapore's got a death penalty for drug trafficking.

Lebanon's newly elected president praised Hizbollah's fight against Israel yesterday but said that there needed to be a dialogue about the future of its arsenal, addressing key demands of both the Iranian-backed militants and their political rivals.

A follow up to yesterday's post on the Church of England's Bishop of Rochester's remarks that the church isn't doing enough to convert Muslims to Christianity. Predictably, there's a backlash against Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali. What I should have predicted, but didn't, was that the first to lash out at the bishop would be from within his own church.

...his comments were condemned by senior figures within the Church. The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, the former Bishop of Hulme and the newly appointed Bishop of Urban Life and Faith, said: "Both the Bishop of Rochester's reported comments and the synod private members' motion show no sensitivity to the need for good inter-faith relations. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs are learning to respect one another's paths to God and to live in harmony. This demand for the evangelisation of people of other faiths contributes nothing to our communities."

A Church of England spokesman added: "We have a mission-focused Christian presence in every community, including those where there are a large number of Muslims. That engagement is based on the provisions of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides for freedom of thought, conscience and religion."

Since when does a church have an obligation to comply with the EU's conventions on anything? I somehow doubt any mosques in England are observing the same courtesies.

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, said Church leaders had rightly shown sensitivity towards Muslims as part of efforts to welcome minority faiths.

But he said: ‘I think it may have gone too far and what we need now is to recover our nerve.’

Dr Nazir-Ali, who faced death threats earlier this year after saying that some parts of the country had become ‘no-go areas’ for non-Muslims, said that it was important for faiths to talk to one another without diluting their core beliefs.

[ ... ]

...[CoE Synod member Paul Eddy] claimed that many bishops were downplaying the missionary role of the Church and official documents often glossed over the requirement to convert Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs or followers of other religions.

He warned that the central role of Christianity in Britain was being eroded, and by ‘allowing the rise of another religion in our country, all that Britain stands for is up for grabs’.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Some time in the last few days, my wife received in the mail a promotional copy of Rolling Stone magazine. I stopped reading RS years ago when the measure of political commentary started creeping up. Loved their music coverage, hated their politics, and RS never misses a chance to give know-nothing rockers a stage for political commentary. Just as I was about to take it outside to pick up my dog's crap with it, I spotted a teaser on the cover about an upcoming Alison Krauss/Robert Plant summer tour. Dog crap clean-up would have to wait.

Thumbing through the rag, I came across an interview with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. The one song I could think of by the band was Soul Meets Body, which I thought was an OK tune, so I read the column. The inevitable deranged leftist political comment came about two thirds in:

"After the 2004 election, I was a fucking mess. I think that if we could survive another four years of that administration, we can survive anything."

So, let me get this straight. According to Gibbard, living through the Bush administration has been more trying than, say, the Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and 9/11. Guess what, Ben? You're still a fucking mess, and a drama queen to boot.

Pardon me...I've got to go clean up some dog crap. I can read about the Alison Krauss/Robert Plant tour on the Internet. For free.

Friday, May 23, 2008

I was tipped to this video clip via an e-mail from Freedom's Watch. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) openly admits that Democrats "stretched the facts" (read: lied) about their ability or intent to end the war in Iraq in order to take back Congress in 2006.

Do the US and the world a favor...don't vote Democratic this November.

AGL released a statement saying the sale to Westpac would take effect in 2012, and would create liquidity in energy markets beyond 2010.

The official emissions trading scheme, which puts a cap and a price on greenhouse gas emissions to help ward off climate change, is due to start in 2010.

Omitted from the article, however, is any word of what consequences await companies which opt not to purchase "permits to pollute". Surely, such permits will eventually become compulsory, as the following paragraph suggests:

Dr Beck said most companies would wait to buy emissions permits, but some would pre-empt the scheme to minimise risk and establish prices.

According to this item in the Jerusalem Post, President Bush wants to launch an attack on Iran before the end of his term, but is being forestalled by Secretary of State Rice and Defense Secretary Gates.

US President George W. Bush intends to attack Iran in the upcoming months, before the end of his term, Army Radio quoted a senior official in Jerusalem as saying Tuesday.

The official claimed that a senior member of the president's entourage, which concluded a trip to Israel last week, said during a closed meeting that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action was called for.

However, the official continued, "the hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" was preventing the administration from deciding to launch such an attack on the Islamic Republic, for the time being.

No doubt the president's tone in his address to the Knesset last week was unequivocal:

"America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions," Bush said. "Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

SCIENTIST Tim Flannery has proposed a radical solution to climate change which may change the colour of the sky.

But he says it may be necessary, as the "last barrier to climate collapse."

Professor Flannery says climate change is happening so quickly that mankind may need to pump sulphur into the atmosphere to survive.

Australia's best-known expert on global warming has updated his climate forecast for the world - and it's much worse than he thought just three years ago.

He has called for a radical suite of emergency measures to be put in place.

The gas sulphur could be inserted into the earth's stratosphere to keep out the sun's rays and slow global warming, a process called global dimming.

"It would change the colour of the sky," Prof Flannery told AAP.

"It's the last resort that we have, it's the last barrier to a climate collapse.

"We need to be ready to start doing it in perhaps five years time if we fail to achieve what we're trying to achieve." Prof Flannery, the 2007 Australian of the Year, said the sulphur could be dispersed above the earth's surface by adding it to jet fuel.

He conceded there were risks to global dimming via sulphur.

"The consequences of doing that are unknown."

Good lord...these climate change/global warming whackos are becoming more of a danger to the environment than all the Chinese coal-fired power plants combined.

Danish ambassadors are being briefed by the Foreign Ministry to handle possible reactions due to Wednesday's government headscarf ban for judges, especially in the Middle East, reports public broadcaster DR.

'In our experience, what often happens is that this type of incident creates misunderstanding throughout the world,' said Klavs Holm, head of the ministry's office for diplomacy.

A possible misinterpretation could be that the government wanted to exclude Muslims from being judges. In this case, it would be vital to show that the government wanted to enforce a ban on all religious symbols, including the Christian cross, with regards to judges.

It's not the "misunderstandings" or "misinterpretations" that are the problem. It's the Islamist freakazoids in the pulpit who'll whip up righteous outrage among the masses who didn't know they were supposed to be outraged in the first place.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

I was still in Europe when President Bush made his remarks about appeasement before the Israeli Knesset which got Barack Obama's panties so tightly in a bunch, so I only got CNN International's version of the story. Which is to say, of course, that I only got Barack Obama's side of the story.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air correctly points out that in protesting and howling over a remark that was never directed at him, he ends up owning the appeaser label:

No one in the US who runs for public office has suggested that the US break with Israel to appease terrorists. Obama certainly hasn’t suggested that, and perhaps apart from the really lunatic fringes of both Left and Right, that notion doesn’t get any oxygen at all here. Obviously, Bush wasn’t referring to American politicians in this passage, but instead politicians in Europe and elsewhere who have either an animus towards Israel or appreciation for dhimmitude. Nothing — and I mean nothing — in this speech points to any candidate or the Democratic Party, unless they identify themselves as the reference.

Obama and his surrogates drew those connections themselves. Instead of acknowledging the historical truth of appeasement’s failures, they chose to argue with it. Obama could have taken the smart route and embraced it to explain how he understands the lessons of appeasement, which is why his talks with Iran would not result in it. Instead, he got volcanically defensive, which suggests that even Obama sees the parallels between his everything’s-on-the-table approach and the Chamberlain diplomacy which resulted in dismantling Czechoslovakia.

Exactly so. While it's a sure bet that Bush was including many Democrats in his reference, he was surely including some Republicans and many European political leaders as well. In short, he was indicting the attitude of appeasement in general, not specific persons.

It says something for Democrat touchiness that the minute a guy makes a generalized observation about folks who appease terrorists and dictators the Dems assume: Hey, they're talking about me. Actually, he wasn't – or, to be more precise, he wasn't talking only about you.

Yes, there are plenty of Democrats who are in favor of negotiating with our enemies, and a few Republicans, too – President Bush's pal James Baker, whose Iraq Study Group was full of proposals to barter with Iran and Syria and everybody else. But that general line is also taken by at least three of Tony Blair's former Cabinet ministers and his senior policy adviser, and by the leader of Canada's New Democratic Party and by a whole bunch of bigshot Europeans. It's not a Democrat election policy, it's an entire worldview. Even Barack Obama can't be so vain as to think his fly-me-to-[insert name of enemy here] concept is an original idea.

Indeed. If the shoe doesn't fit so well, why is Obama wearing it with such style?

Friday, May 16, 2008

I some how don't think this Hard Rock Cafe in Heidelberg is affiliated with the famous brand. The sign says "Help the planet" as opposed to the more familiar "Save the planet" seen on actual Hard Rock establishments.

Yes, I'm back in Heidelberg after a very hectic week in Munich. Back home tomorrow and back to somewhat regular posting.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

A US State Department report on British terror suspects working in Britain's National Health Service (NHS) facilities is raising fears of dirty bombs made from missing radioactive medical material. Hospitals have a wealth of radioactive materials in radiology and nuclear medicine.

Nine items that could be used to build a dirty bomb are missing from British hospitals, fuelling fears that Al Qaeda terrorists are trying to steal material to build a radioactive device.

The revelation comes as a new US State Department intelligence report highlights fears over terror suspects working in the NHS and reveals Britain has launched an urgent operation to track down all radiological material used in its hospitals.

A State Department counter-terrorism official said there was high-level "concern" in Washington about the large number of foreign-born workers in European hospitals with access to materials that could be made into a dirty bomb.

The left, of course, will dismiss this as just more government fear-mongering. A dirty bomb, they'll say, won't cause more damage than a conventional one and the radioactive contamination from one would be isolated.

While those judgments of a dirty bomb's capabilities are largely true, the damage caused by one detonated at the right time and in the right place is secondary to the psychological damage it would bring.

Denmark has a military service draft, but evidently they don't really need it. Young Danes volunteering for military service now have to wait 6 to 18 months to report for boot camp.

If news of soldiers deaths in Afghanistan has turned some of the public against Danish military activities abroad, it certainly hasn't affected the country's young people, who are lining up to enlist in the armed forces, reported MetroXpress newspaper.

[ ... ]

'It's a new look since we've cut the [training] period down from six to four months,' said [head of recruiting Alan] Damm. 'Now we get a lot of young people thinking they'll try it out and if they don't like it, well, then it was only four months.'

Currently, new recruits have to wait until the beginning of 2009 before they can enter the Army's boot camp, while trainees entering the Air Force cannot get their chance until the end of next year.

Mr. Damm adds that the Danish Defense Department has also done much to get more women in the military. My guess is that if our services had more Scandinavian women, we'd have similar waiting lists.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Last month, the communist government of Cuba lifted the ban on private ownership of cell phones, and now has done the same for home computers. Consumers still can't get access to the Internet, and while the Cuban government claims it's because the US trade embargo prevents them from plugging into undersea fiber connections, it remains to be seen whether the government will allow connections to Venezuela's network once they're extended to Cuba.

The question now is whether the US should start incrementally relaxing restrictions on trade with Cuba as a quid pro quo to Cuba's baby steps. I'm thinking yes...starting with permitting Cuban cigar exports to the US.

Friday, May 02, 2008

A Hot Air post last night linked to this Daily Kos diary in which the diarist demands action against ABC for providing a town hall forum to Hillary Clinton while allegedly denying the same to Barack Obama. In left wing political blog terms, it's a typical IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT™ designed to whip the proletariat into a frenzy so they can all go somewhere and speak truth to power or something.

One commenter posts a tutorial on how to disrupt such an event:

First, find a good movement lawyer who can bail you out. Just because it aint illegal doesn't mean you won't get arrested. If your action is effective in challenging ABC, there is a good chance that you WILL get arrested.

The trick is to get a small group inside. The more the merrier, but at least two people are needed and your really a minimum of four or five. This may be no more difficult than getting tickets or showing up at the door, but you need to find out now. Be discrete. Dress nicely. Get a haircut if you need to.

Its usually a pretty simple matter to smuggle a banner into an event like this. The banner should have a simple message that is very easy to read (four or five words in big block letters, with high contrast between the letters and background). Make the banner on the lightest weight material you can buy. Fold it up flat and hide it under your clothes. The small of the back is a good place. Make it easily accessible for unfurling.

Time your unfurling carefully for when the cameras are likely to be on you. Getting a position behind any microphone set up for the audience is good idea. Have your own video cameras in case they cut away from you so you can put it up later that night on YouTube.

Have a simple chant and have everybody in your group prepared to chant in unison until you are silenced.

Be prepared to get assaulted, tackled, arrested and charged. Then be prepared to fight the charges and win two years from now.

It seems to me that any such protest action should not be on behalf of another candidate but rather in opposition to ABC and Clinton. A possible banner might read:

"Corporate Media = Corporate Candidates"

Be prepared to be ridiculed on the Daily Show and even denounced here by "responsible Democrats." Know that their ridicule and denunciations are evidence that you have touched a nerve and challenged their own comfortable complicity with "the way things are."

Don't expect miracles, but understand that every little gesture of resistance and defiance helps turn the tide of complacency.

The diarist, like many other head cases on the left, is convinced that ABC is in the tank for Hillary, and wonders "...who the Disney Corp. has donated their $$ to?". Disney, of course, is ABC's parent company. In less time than it took for the diarist to type and post its disjointed rant, it could have gone to opensecrets.org and disabused itself of its Disney/ABC conspiracy theory. Of the 73 donations recorded from Disney employees, just eight of them went to Hillary Clinton, and none of those were from senior management.